Just wanted to share this interesting Sonar video, which is like a beautiful mix of raindrops and fireworks dancing around within the length of their sound waves. We also couldn’t help but notice that the color palette resembled our fave notebooks of Rhodia, Whitelines, and Moleskine. How serendipitous!

When these Clairefontaine Vintage Graf it Sketchpads arrived, we were instantly drifting off on a magical pop art daydream with muse Andy Warhol. We believe he would favor these sketchpads, as they’re perfect for bold prints, fine ornate drawings, or loose wacky lines. The heavy 41 lb. paper holds lots of color and is perfect for quick experiments with mixed media. We think he’d also get a kick that the covers are such a high-five to his style, giving each GraF it Pad holder their own 15 minutes of fame. With many cover colors, prints, bold retro typography, and 4 sizes, they’ve got lots of personality, just like him. Shop Clairefontaine GraF It Pads »

Here are our staff’s fave facts about Andy…

Andy was born Andrew Warhola on August 6th, 1928.

He contracted Sydenham’s chorea when he was a young boy, and his artistic mother encouraged him to pursue creating art while he was sick. Foreshadowing his future subjects, he started to collect pictures of movie stars. He would grow up to print celebrity works of Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Muhammad Ali, Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor.

He was an art editor for his college’s student magazine, and broke into his wild world with a first job for Glamour magazine. First assignment : “Success is a Job in New York.”

Over a decade, Warhol worked for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker, and more high-profile clients.

His favorite thing to buy was underwear.

Warhol believed his gray hair in his 20′s helped people notice his youthful good looks.

He was a self-proclaimed “mama’s boy.” His mother collaborated on many of his artworks, and even signed his pieces sometimes.

Andy rented an abandoned firehouse as a painting studio in his early days, later moving up to the iconic Factory.

He was a regular volunteer for a homeless shelter while in New York City.

Andy was shot by a feminist three times in 1968. He was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital, but later revived after intense surgery.

He was audited every year from 1972 until his death in 1987.

From the ’50s through the ’70s, Andy always kept a cardboard box beside his desk that he would fill with interesting ephemera. When they were full, he’d close and date them. By the time Andy passed away, he had assembled over 600 of these “time capsules.”

Salvador Dali once gave Warhol his used color palettes, he put them in a time capsule.

In the 80′s Warhol guest-starred in the 200th episode of The Love Boat. He was represented by a modeling agency, appeared in a Diet Coke commercial, and purchased 2000 bottles of Dom Pérignon to celebrate the new millennium.

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the largest museum in the United States of America which is dedicated to a single artist.

When I think of timeless elegance, the first thing that always comes to mind is Cavallini. Excellent quality, sturdy, timeless and classic. You’ll never forget Cavallini after you see the decorative calendars, stationery, and other paper products adorned with detailed images of vintage prints, maps, and iconic places from around the world. Each is striking and unique. When I want to write a letter to a dear friend, something out of the ordinary, I immediately pick up a Cavallini product.

While Cavallini is known for their gorgeous paper and notecards, they pride themselves on their wide selection of stunning calendars. Each calendar is a unique collection of striking art prints. As you flip through each month, you immediately get transported to old-world New York, Paris, and everywhere in between. You can get sucked into their Garden prints; you can even go Around the World.

I remember a few years back to when I was gifted a Cavallini desk calendar from a friend. The thickness of the paper between my fingers, the crisp colours and texture, would transport me every month to a different place. As an added bonus, the prints were so beautiful, it looked like I had hung up professional art prints in my office! After the year was done, I carefully cut the prints out and saved them. I still have them, tucked away in my art space.

After that gift, I began to seek out Cavallini products – the rounded paperclips that perfectly and elegantly hold your papers, plus many other calendars – they reminded me of times gone by, of old suitcases covered in travel stickers. Recently I gave a friend who loves to travel the Amalfi coast calendar. She was ecstatic, and told me she didn’t want to use it because it was so beautiful!

It is a reminder of the past the way it should be seen – worn and captured perfectly.

~~~

Meet the Writer: Akhila Jagdish is a writer and editor in the process of starting her own editorial services company, The Crafted Word. She loves making lists, collecting journals, reading, drinking wine and cooking.

6 –> Misty at the Pen Thief is hosting a contest for people who have always wanted to make their own stamp! The deadline is March 1st, so you have some time, but check out her blog for the full details.

7 –> Sheila at Does This Pen Make Me Look Fat is also hosting a random drawing for a Jinhao X750. Entries close at midnight on Saturday though so you’ll want to hurry!

8 –> The 365 Letters Blog did a great round-up of LOVE stamps, and informed us that on Valentine’s Day “fans of 19th century poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were given online access to a collection of 573 letters the two exchanged from 1845 to 1846.” Click through to read more.

3 –> This is Colossal captured us once again by sharing the below image from an installation by Saudi Arabian artist Manal Al Dowayan. Click through the image to see more images and read the intention of the installation, but we’ll give you a nugget here: “‘Suspended Together’ is an installation that gives the impression of movement and freedom. However, a closer look at the 200 doves allows the viewer to realize that the doves are actually frozen and suspended with no hope of flight. An even closer look shows that each dove carries on its body a permission document that allows a Saudi woman to travel. …”

1 –> Our Moleskine Haiku Contest ended yesterday and it’s been a BLAST going through the 100+ submissions! Thanks to everyone who participated! We are psyched to announce the winner Tuesday, February 7th and to share all the haiku love!

Art by Lorenzo Duran. Click the image to see more of his work on Demilked.

5 –> The Telegraph (UK) introduced a series of art masterpieces created solely with marker pen on a whiteboard. See the artist, Bill Taylor of Durham, North Carolina, and his art in their slideshow here.

6 –> Read all about the rebirth of handwriting in J. Richard Gentry’s report in Psychology Today aptly titled “Handwriting—the Most Elegant Form of Communication.” Here’s just a taste: “E-mailers, text messengers, and skeptics be damned. Handwriting–American style–is born again. So say about one hundred and fifty teachers, administrators, psychologists, master penmen, and researchers from across the country who occupied the Newseum in Washington, DC for the 275th anniversary of John Hancock’s birth.”